This one's gonna be short and not terribly sweet. Sad as hell is more like it.

Butch Casablanca, who passed away last year, is now purring in heaven with her beloved sister, Cleopatra, who succumbed to kidney failure this past weekend. She was 18 years old, and yes, her namesake was who you think it is...

But there's a reason: Cleo was a gift from a friend of mine named Chen Sam. Chen was Taylor's publicist for many years (and was Taylor's rep when I interviewed the fab broad in the early '90s). Sadly, Chen died several years ago from cancer.

It's been a tough a few days, and there's not much more you can say at a time like this. Since I've written about Cleo from time to time, I felt it important to let you all know the bad news. I miss her so. She was sassy and beautiful and really cool when her latest doggie sister, Charlie Casablanca, would try to play with her. She never really let it show that she didn't want to.

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